Local newspapers are heading towards life support, says AspenPost.net
July 10, 2006
Big Bald Bobby was driving us from the Inn at Aspen to the Hotel Jerome downtown when we struck up a conversation about blogging. He writes for AspenPost.net when he's not working, downhill biking or skiing or spending time with his girlfriend.
He told how AspenPost.net has become a local news source for the community and about how it routinely beats the local newspaper at stories. Sounds like a perfect example of how mainstream media is losing influence while citizen journalism is gaining prominence.
So, I've been checking out this Aspen community blog on a regular basis and found this post on how newspapers are losing readers. In fact, they are on a pretty steep downward spiral. It will be a while before they crash and burn, but they are in a flame out mode.
Check this out: The post says that newspaper readership averaged 80.8 percent in 1964, went below 70 percent in 1980, below 60 percent in 1995 and stood at 51.6 percent in 2005.
I remember when I couldn't live without getting the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, in addition to the Lansing State Journal. Now I read them online along with other papers.
It used to be fun sitting in a coffeeshop with a fresh brewed cup and the paper. I guess now it's with my iBook.
Technorati Tags: newspapers, Aspen, AspenPost.net, mainstream media, citizen journalism